On May 19, 2013, the June issue of Ultra Jump debuted as any normal issue of a mangazine would. However, this particular issue was noticeably different with an announcement following the 113rd chapter of Needless stating that next month’s chapter would be the final one. Without any preparation or any proper warning, the sudden and abrupt ending was only a month away. The announcement began to explain the accelerated pace of the last few chapters and the conclusions of many loose ends, but with so much more remaining and the peculiar developments of late, especially some of the absolutely shocking events in 113, you wondered just how the manga could end with an unfortunate amount of unanswered questions. But one month later, Needless 114 debuted and so ended the serialization of my favorite manga.

During whichever week this belongs to: complaints on the detective/mystery work in Danganronpa, how Index continues to undermine Misaka’s character in To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, excitement over distinguishing Fu’s character in Tamayura ~more aggressive~, and a slight but refreshing and welcome change in Monogatari Series Second Season.

This week: an analogy between the war and the Crusades in Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, the unpopulated, empty world of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, the damage and durability of the karuta cards in Chihayafuru 2, and thoughts on the criminalization of artists in Psycho-Pass.

Alright, time to take a moment and prepare for the upcoming Winter anime season. After a quick glance at what’s planned for the first anime season of 2012, it appears to be another season heavy on sequels but there are plenty of shows with potential. And of the new anime airing this season, there is no clear-cut favorite right now meaning this should be an interesting season to see how everything plays out.